GRTC sees rise in riders purchasing passes
GRTC is carrying more people but taking in less money at the farebox.
Local business owners recognized with inaugural Black Wall Street awards
Craig Watson saw opportunity when he couldn’t find any places in Richmond that offered a public venue for poets like him and best friend Dontronn Goode to share their work.
Dr. Roy A. West, former Richmond mayor, educator, dies at 89
Dr. Roy A. West, a decisive and outspoken man known for his strong opinions and who exercised power at City Hall as mayor while playing an influential role in public education in Richmond, has died.
Goldman wins FOIA suit against city
Retired Richmond Circuit Court Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr. Wednesday ruled that the City of Richmond violated the Freedom of Information Act in failing to release more than 2,600 documents related to a still-secret deal to replace the Richmond Coliseum.
Probe into Northam’s blackface scandal ‘inconclusive’
Was Gov. Ralph S. Northam actually one of the people in the racist photo on his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page in 1984? It’s “inconclusive.”
Epic fail
At least 280 Richmond Public Schools seniors won’t be graduating in June, RPS officials say
Hundreds of Richmond seniors will not be allowed to graduate in nearly three weeks because they have not met the state standards for a diploma.
Update on RPS principal replacement
Dr. Sherry Wharton-Cary, principal at Elizabeth D. Redd Elementary School, is not among the 10 Richmond principals being replaced, but Rose Ferguson, principal of George Mason Elementary, is.
City Council delays action on single-use plastics resolution
Cities across the country and around the world are banning plastic straws, cutlery, bags and other single-use products that are clogging waterways and harming fish, birds, whales and other wildlife.
Costs for new schools continue to rise
The price tag for the three new schools Richmond is building is continuing to rise.
Richmond food justice corridor gets boost with $250,000 grant
Arthur L. Burton has spent more than three years organizing a food-based approach to uplift the health and economic prospects of poorer sections of Richmond, particularly in and around public housing communities.
Promoter sues city over admissions tax
Longtime Richmond area promoter Fenroy A. “Hosea” Fox wants a refund of the 7 percent admissions tax he has paid to the city during the past four years from ticket proceeds from concerts and events he has staged.
Work stopped on planned Downtown hotel
For a decade, an eight-story building at 5th and Franklin streets was a city-backed nursery for small businesses.
RRHA rolls back plan for Dove Court replacement units
The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority may be pulling back from its promise of providing a replacement unit for each public housing unit it tears down.
City Council approves 2019-20 spending plan, but with flaws
“We made it,” City Council President Cynthia I. Newbille said after the council approved the 2019-20 budget Monday night without discussion.
Words matter
Renter receives settlement from local landlord following racist, vulgar abuse and discrimination
Winter Whittaker knew what to do when the wealthy white real estate owner called her “a dumb a** n****r” and “a black b***h” after she repeatedly and fruitlessly asked him to fix the leaking roof and other serious problems with the Meadowbridge Road home she rented from him on North Side.
City backs off plan for former NFL player to operate youth football program
City Hall has quietly backed away from a plan to allow former NFL star Michael Robinson to operate the city’s fall youth football program through his nonprofit, volunteer-led Excel 2 Excellence football program.
‘She the People’ brings town hall to Richmond on May 18
Aimee Allison wants “purple” Virginia to be an epicenter in elevating the political voice and voting power of black women and other women of color in the November battle by Democrats to win control of the Virginia General Assembly and the presidential election fight in 2020.
New housing honcho
RRHA’s leader Damon Duncan outlines priorities that will impact city’s 10,000 public housing residents
The new chief executive officer of the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority is vowing that the agency will move “expeditiously” to redevelop the city’s decaying public housing.
Fulton bus service to improve with several changes planned by GRTC
Beginning Sunday, GRTC will usher in faster rush hour service in the Fulton area of the East End, the company has announced. The bus company also will tweak service to the Randolph community, extend nighttime service on the Bellemeade/Hopkins route serving McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center and make it easier for West End passengers to access the coming Whole Foods grocery store near Broad and Meadow streets.
Councilman Hilbert opposes Salvation Army move to North Side
“I am firmly against this.” That’s the not-in-my-backyard response from 3rd District City Councilman Chris A. Hilbert’s to a Free Press report last week that the Salvation Army is applying for a special use permit to move its combination headquarters and homeless shelter from Downtown to a church building in Mr. Hilbert’s North Side district.
City Council to seek election to replace Agelasto
Richmond City Council set the stage this week for a special election on Nov. 5 to replace Councilman Parker C. Agelasto as the 5th District representative. The council voted Monday to petition Richmond Circuit Court to set the election to coincide with the November general election in which voters will select representatives to the General Assembly.
Council members concerned about latest utility rate hikes
Like a steady drip, drip, drip, the cost of utility services is continuing to rise in Richmond at a double-digit pace, outpacing inflation and raising concerns among some about affordability.
What’s better: A Coliseum replacement or a facelift?
Here’s the choice: Spend $25 million to $35 million to revitalize the 13,500-seat Richmond Coliseum or spend $220 million to replace it with a brand new 17,500-seat facility and add another $20 million to $30 million to revamp East Clay and East Leigh streets.
City starts down road to regulate short-term rentals
Want to use Airbnb, FlipKey, VRBO or other online websites to rent your Richmond home or apartment to travelers?
RISC receives federal grant to assist with community effort
A coalition of 20 Richmond area Christian and Jewish congregations that focuses on social justice has been awarded a $144,000 federal grant ahead of its annual meeting where the faith-based coalition will press for changes in eviction policy and for proven reading and trauma response programs in schools.
Balancing act
Richmond City Council designs a new budget that places a 50 cent-per-pack tax on cigarettes, increases funding for schools and expands bus service while giving city employees a 3 percent raise
An exhausted City Council completed work Monday on a new 2019-20 spending plan for Richmond that calls for a 3.6 percent, or $26 million, increase in city spending and is balanced with the imposition of the city’s first tax on cigarettes — a 50 cent levy on each pack effective July 1— and a hike in utility rates.
Salvation Army looks to relocate from Downtown to North Side
People needing temporary housing and a helping hand might soon have to walk a bit farther to reach the Salvation Army’s combination headquarters and emergency shelter.
Former VCU dean drops defamation suit against Wilder
Former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is no longer facing a defamation lawsuit that was scheduled for trial in mid-July in Richmond Circuit Court.
Agelasto out, but not soon enough for critics
Parker C. Agelasto is ready to leave his seat on Richmond City Council nine months after he and his family moved their residence outside the 5th District he was first elected to serve in 2012.
The end of Easter on Parade?
Sunday might have been the final edition of Easter on Parade — at least as an organized event. Thousands of people turned out to stroll along four blocks of Monument Avenue on Easter afternoon, some in holiday finery and others with costumed pets. It’s a tradition that dates back at least 50 years and has been under the aegis of city-supported groups for at least 30 years.
Sources name 10th RPS principal targeted for replacement
Regina Farr has been identified as the 10th Richmond Public Schools principal being replaced when the school year ends in the latest leadership shake-up.
Head of the class!
Richmond Public Schools teacher Rodney A. Robinson, who mentors and inspires students at the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, wins 2019 National Teacher of the Year
Rodney A. Robinson, the 40-year-old history and social studies teacher who inspires students each and every day inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center, where he has worked at the Virgie Binford Education Center since 2015, has been named 2019 National Teacher of the Year.
Ora Lomax, longtime NAACP leader, civil rights advocate, dies at 86
For decades, black women could only work behind the scenes at white-owned retail stores in Richmond during the harsh era of segregation. Ora Mae Perry Lomax helped change all that.
Budget blowup splits mayor, City Council
Relations between Mayor Levar M. Stoney and City Council disintegrated Wednesday as council poised to make a modest cut in departmental spending and reject his proposed 9-cent increase in the property tax rate.
City Council committee again closes door on private ambulance service
Richmond City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted to kill legislation that would give Fire Chief Melvin Carter greater decision-making authority over permits for the operation of private ambulance service within the city.
Richmond man acquitted in Henrico rental car threat
Arthur H. Majola has his life back. The Richmond man walked out of Henrico County Circuit Court April 16 a free man after a jury acquitted him of making a bomb threat against Enterprise Car Rental nine months ago.
Richmond sheriff’s deputies lost?
Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving has declined to explain why deputies serving legal papers in a lawsuit naming the City of Richmond as a defendant could not locate the City Attorney’s Office at City Hall.
FasMart agrees to comply with ADA under settlement
FasMart, a Richmond-based convenience store chain, no longer will bar disabled people accompanied by a service animal.
Chesterfield to stay in recycling program through Dec.
The Richmond region’s recycling program will remain intact at least through December. Chesterfield County is still mulling its future with the program and has agreed to participate for the rest of the year in the 10-year-old operation run by the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority.
Plans gain steam to rehab old Fulton Gas Works
A four-year-old plan to turn the now vacant Fulton Gas Works in the East End into a modern hub of the city’s gas utility is quietly gaining momentum, although a separate project by Stone Brewing to create a restaurant to complement the company’s beer factory appears to have stalled.
Parent’s FOIA request shows more to RPS 2018 toilet paper debacle
Richmond Public Schools expects to finish the current school year with plenty of toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies at each of its buildings, according to Michelle Hudacsko, chief of staff to RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras.
Questions raised about charity status of Navy Hill entities
Now stumping for tax increases that he claims will go to pave streets and repair aging schools, Mayor Levar M. Stoney has clearly put a proposal to build a new, larger Richmond Coliseum on the backburner.
RRHA negotiating plan to turn over 11 properties to private company
The city’s housing authority is on the verge of giving a New Jersey-based company control of 11 smaller apartment complexes that house families and the elderly as part of its larger plan to modernize public housing by turning over ownership to private companies.
New legal effort launched to remove Agelasto from office
Parker C. Agelasto is facing a new legal attack seeking to remove him from his 5th District City Council seat since he moved his residence outside the district. Just two months after former City Councilman Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson filed a lawsuit in Richmond Circuit Court seeking Mr. Agelasto’s ouster, another former City Council member, Sa’ad El-Amin, is seeking a separate removal action in the same court.
School Board mounts effort to contain school construction costs
The Richmond School Board is taking a series of steps in seeking to get a handle on the soaring cost of school construction. The ballooning cost is undermining any hope of modernizing city schools for $800 million over 20 years — the amount the city has promised to provide.
Rental car scene blows up to jail time for city man
Arthur H. Majola went to pick up a rental car his insurance company was providing after his vehicle, which had been damaged in an accident, went into a repair shop. But he wound up spending 54 days in jail where he became celebrated for engaging in a hunger strike that nearly killed him but forced his release.
St. Luke Building to begin leasing in June
Two years after it was first announced, the renovation of the historic, but long-vacant St. Luke Building in Gilpin Court into upscale apartments is coming together.
Regional recycling program at risk with Chesterfield, others pulling out
Chesterfield County is poised to pull out of a regional curbside recycling program, which could require Richmond and Henrico County to boost their subsidies to maintain the program.
Richmond barber helping rebuild lives, homes in Haiti
Kenneth Barney makes his living cutting hair. But in his spare time, the longtime Richmond barber is on a mission to build solid, safe houses in a community in Haiti where thousands make their homes in tiny ramshackle spaces.
